THE CHINCH BUG. 
23 
records tlie fact that he hns observed the Many-banded Robber ( Mil gas 
ductus , Fab., Fig. 7) in the act of preying upon the Chinch Bug, and Dr. 
Thomas considers this insect the most efficient of the insect enemies of 
the pest. 
Two of Professor Riley’s correspondents in 1874 stated that ants de- 
stroyed the eggs of the Chinch Bug, but the observation lacks scientific 
confirmation. Professor Forbes in 1882 observed a small ant ( Lasius 
Jlavus) in extraordinary numbers in fields of Broom-corn and Sorghum, 
and both he and the farmer, whom he does not mention by name, made 
each an independent observation upon an ant which was carrying off a 
Chinch Bug in its jaws, but repeated dissections of ants found in such 
fields failed to show that they had fed on the bugs. 
Professor Forbes in his 1882 report adds to the list of observed insect- 
enemies a common Ground-beetle — Ag ■modems pallipes (Comma) Fabr. — 
of which, upon dissection, one-fifth of the total food was found to be 
Chinch Bugs. This is the insect figured upon Plate 1 of Bulletin 12 of 
the Division of Entomology and which is there stated to destroy seed 
corn in the ground, so that its beneficial qualities are offset by its inju- 
rious tendencies. 
The evidence of Dr. Shimer, Dr. Walsh, and others, is quite sufficient 
to establish the fact that the Lady birds and the Lace-winged Fly men- 
tioned will feed upon the Chinch Bug, and Dr. Shimer’s evidence in favor 
of the latter insect is particularly strong. Flis testimony as to the great 
abundance of the Lady-birds upon corn infested by Chinch Bugs is of 
course only presumptive evidence of their good work in destroying this 
insect. It is unquestionable, however, that the Lady-birds prefer Plant- 
lice to the Chinch Bugs ; and in at least one instance which has been re- 
ported to us, when the Lady-birds were present upon corn in considerable 
numbers, and when this crop was infested by the Chinch Bug, a careful 
study by the observer (Mr. Lawrence Bruner) showed that the Corn 
Aphis was also present, and that the Lady-birds were feeding upon these 
latter, and did not, so far as he could see, touch the Chinch Bugs. Pro- 
fessor Forbes’ stomach examinations previously mentioned also tend to 
cast discredit upon the Lady birds as Chinch Bug destroyers. 
Vertebrate Enemies. — Professor Riley published many years ago 
in the Prairie Farmer the fact that the common Quail, or Bob White 
( Colinus virgin! anus), was a most efficient destroyer of the Chinch Bug, 
and this fact has since been confirmed by other writers. Dr. Riley says : 
In tlie winter time when hard pushed for food they must devour enormous numbers 
of the little pests which winter in just such situations as are frequented by the quail, 
and this bird should be protected from the gun of the sportsman in every State where 
the Chinch Bug is known to run riot. 
We may add the corroborative evidence of Mr. Bruner, who combines 
the knowledge of an entomologist with that of an ornithologist: 
Protect the birds, and above all the quails, for they destroy countless numbers of 
hibernating insects of various kinds that are to be picked up about the hedges and 
such like resorts frequented by these birds throughout the winter. Although be- 
